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The Shweeb

As the fear of global warming increases in the public, there are some who are trying to be productive and find a solution to global warming, or at least, slow the process. A group of these individuals, whose company is called Shweeb, has found a way to contribute to the fight against global warming. Their idea? Pedal powered pods. Shweeb submitted their idea to a competition held by Google, in which these pods are in some sort of track and you race the opposite pod by pedaling as fast as your legs can pedal. Google found some merit in this idea, since they awarded the company one million dollars to get the project started.

Now, I applaud all and every intention to stop global warming and although I am not a fan of these pedal pods, I can see how this idea can help the environment. If the project is taken off the ground, and if it is a hit with the public, the dependency on cars would drastically decrease. With the cars’ disappearance, pollution would decrease as well as the dependency on oil not to mention relieving the Earth of greenhouse gas. Since the pedal pods require you to pedal to your destination as if you are bicycling, it promotes cardio and would reduce obesity, which is a big problem in the U.S.

That being said, I really do not see it being a hit in society. The whole “pedaling to your destination” seems a little too much for our society. What if you are commuting a long distance? Nowadays, more and more people are working in places in which they commute half an hour in a car, at least. I do not see those individuals running to make a line at the pedal pod center. How about the elderly? Not so much. Yet, I still believe this idea can really work for society and benefit the environment vastly. Maybe if the “pedal to your destination” were fixed, the people commuting to their work would be more incline to use the pedal pods. I like to believe that this project was what inspired the individuals who thought of the pod cars system. Although, the project illustrate its true motives a revision or improvement to the initial idea would have to be made in order for the publics approval. Check out the video below for more details:

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2 thoughts on “The Shweeb”

I had never heard of this before and thought that it was a very interesting discussion. Weve all been hearing about pod cars and autonomous vehicles, but taking a pod system and having it be powered by man is an interesting idea. Unfortunately like you I dont see it catching on much. The only group I really see using a system like this are those who currently use bicycles. I dont think that that group is large enough to offset the cost of developing a system or network that would be large enough to really help. Of course Id love to be wrong and see something like this work but like you said I think the issue is bigger than just the pedal pod itself.

Actually, I came across this project searching for an article on pod cars. Ironically enough, I felt that this project deserved some recognition since it is a bright idea. Not only is The Shweeb good for the environment but it’s also good for the user. Unfortunately, like you stated, it does seem like a project that won’t be catching on as much. It’s a pity. However, I think city that have already made the transition into environmental friendly forms of transportation should take this project into consideration. Thanks for your comment.